“The government seems fine in just letting it happen:” Resistance and counter-narratives for change offered by youth experiencing homelessness

By Stephanie Begun, PhD, MSW

Youth homelessness is a violation of human rights and impacts approximately 3 million young people under the age of 25 in the United States each year. In addition to facing an array of obstacles in obtaining basic necessities on a daily basis, under-housed youth encounter injustices specifically pertaining to their reproductive and sexual health and rights. Reproductive and sexual health research with youth experiencing homelessness thus often (and perhaps logically) focuses on disparities, unmet needs, and negative outcomes experienced by these young people. However, research often misses important opportunities to engage youth experiencing homelessness in sharing their narratives—including alternative storylines and counter-narratives—that instead speak to structural failings and oppression that serve to create the unfair conditions that they face. Such narratives seek to reimagine changes that can and must be made, at macro levels, to improve the lives and outcomes of youth, rather than placing undue onus on youth, at the individual-level, to accomplish such results solely on their own.

Through individual qualitative interviews, we spoke with 30 young people (ages 18-21) accessing shelter services in the United States. Narrative analyses identified youths’ depictions of dominant narratives related to structural oppressions, stigma, and numerous dimensions of reproductive and sexual health, including how they create, through their resistance, counter-narratives that include their preferred futures. 

Something that really stood out to us from study findings was that participants offered nuanced critiques of the state, particularly with regard to governments’ failures to support youth experiencing homelessness and other people living in poverty. Some articulated their sense that the government does not care about people living in poverty and is content to let people exist without their basic needs being met, rather than investing necessary resources into social programs and supports. Youth also expressed that they confront noteworthy barriers in accessing non-judgmental, stigma-free healthcare services and information, and these negative experiences are further exacerbated in the context of needed supports pertaining to reproductive and sexual health, including pregnancy, parenting, and family planning. They suggested that approaches to policy change and service provision should be prioritized that further amplify youths’ own voices in naming and challenging the many oppressions and stigmas that they regularly encounter. Interviewees also discussed that policies should be implemented to dismantle the actual root causes of challenges faced by youth experiencing homelessness, rather than perpetuating them through measures rooted in interlocking oppressions of discrimination, inequity, and judgment.

Personally, I was deeply inspired by the wisdom, brilliance, and altruism of the young people who so generously shared about their experiences and ideas for change that could be inspired through such counter-narratives. I also consider myself so fortunate to have learned a great deal from working alongside an amazing team of graduate student researchers, who during the peak of pandemic lockdowns and entirely online collaborations, were so committed to analyzing these data and honoring youths’ voices through the process of co-authoring and publishing this article. We hope that research that uplifts youths’ ideas, along with policy and practice-based advocacy efforts taken up by, with, and for youth will continue to drive change in realizing an end to youth homelessness.

Article Details
Counter-Narratives of Structural Oppressions, Stigma and Resistance, and Reproductive and Sexual Health Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness
Emilia Henriques, Catherine Schmidt, Rachael Pascoe, Kira Liss, and Stephanie Begun
First Published Online June 23, 2022
DOI: 10.1177/10497323221110694
Qualitative Health Research

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